Fabian Hurzeler reveals the 'special quality' behind Brighton's obsession with Eiran Cashin
Fabian Hurzeler has lauded Brighton’s swoop for Derby County centre back Eiran Cashin as he considers handing the 23-year-old a debut in the Seagulls’ FA Cup clash with Chelsea.
The head coach, who spent £9million on the centre back bringing to an end a long courtship of the Rams’ academy product, says he was drawn to Cashin’s ability both with the ball and without it.
Cashin made the move having played 144 times for his boyhood club and having built a decent partnership with Curtis Nelson as the foundation on which Paul Warne’s team was promoted from League One.
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However, with Cashin now gone and Nelson injured, Warne has had to rejig his defence, acquiring Matt Clarke and investing £4m in Sondre Langas from Viking FK, as Cashin plots a route into the Brighton first team.
He certainly seems to have Hurzeler’s faith in his potential, with the German telling The Athletic why the club have made the move: “In possession, he is a player with a very good left foot. He can break lines with his passes.
"He is very clever when he makes a decision to find a pass. He always finds a free team-mate, he doesn’t put a team-mate under pressure. He finds a team-mate who can continue the game forward, so that is a special quality.
“On top of that, he is very aggressive against the ball. He likes to have personal duels. He is not hiding from making the last step, so I knew that the club wanted to have him for a long time. We’ve observed him and now was the chance to sign him and we are all happy.”
However, an FA Cup debut against the Blues might not be in the offing – even though Brighton’s defence hardly covered themselves in glory in last week’s 7-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.
Hurzeler added: “The percentage that he (Cashin) will start the game is not that high, but he will be in the squad and he will be an option.”
